Heather moorland

Heathland and moorland are the most extensive areas of semi-natural vegetation in the British Isles. The eastern British moorlands are similar to heaths but are differentiated by having a covering of peat. On western moors the peat layer may be several metres thick. Scottish ‘muirs’ are generally heather moors, but will also have extensive covering of grass, cotton-grass, mosses, bracken and under-shrubs such as crowberry, with the wetter moorland having sphagnum moss merging into bog-land.[1]

There is uncertainty about how many moors were created by human activity. Rackham writes that pollen analysis shows that some moorland, such as in the islands and extreme north of Scotland, are clearly natural, never having had trees,[2] whereas much of the Pennine moorland area was forested in Mesolithic times.[3] How much the destruction of this forest was caused by climatic changes and how much by human activity is uncertain.[1]

The ecology of moorland

A variety of distinct habitat types are found in different world regions of moorland. The wildlife and vegetation forms often lead to high endemism because of the severe soil and microclimate characteristics. For example, in England's Exmoor is found the rare horse breed the Exmoor Pony, which has adapted to the harsh conditions of that environment.

Management

Burning of moorland has been practiced for a number of reasons, for example when grazing is insufficient to control growth. This is recorded in Britain in the fourteenth century.[5] Uncontrolled burning frequently caused (and causes) problems, and was forbidden by statute in 1607. With the rise of sheep and grouse management in the nineteenth century it again became common practice. Heather is burnt at about 10 or 12 years old when it will regenerate easily. Left longer, the woodier stems will burn more aggressively and will hinder regrowth. Burning of moorland vegetation needs to be very carefully controlled as the peat itself can catch fire, and this can be difficult if not impossible to extinguish. In addition, uncontrolled burning of heather can promote alternative bracken and rough grass growth which ultimately produces poorer grazing.[6] As a result burning is now a controversial practice; Rackham calls it ‘second-best land management’.[1]

Mechanical cutting of the heather has been used in Europe, but it is important for the material to be removed to avoid smothering regrowth. If heather and other vegetation is left for too long, a large volume of dry and combustible material builds up. This may result in a wildfire burning out a large area, although it has been found that heather seeds germinate better if subject to the brief heat of controlled burning.

Moorland in literature

Dartmoor in winter covered in snow. Several tors top the sparsely vegetated hills.

Enid Blyton's Famous Five series featured the young protagonists adventuring across various moorlands where they confronted criminals or other individuals of interest. Such a setting enhanced the plot as the drama unfolded away from the functioning world where the children could solve their own problems and face greater danger. Moorland in the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire is the setting for Walter Bennett's The Pendle Witches, the true story of some of England's most infamous witch trials. In Erin Hunter's famous Warriors series, one of the four Clans, WindClan, lives in the moorland alone.

See also

References

^Camilla Bonn (1998). 'That Jack Cunningham wants half of us out of farming', in Country Life, 15 January 1998, pp. 28–35.

^McDermot (1911). The History of the Forest of Exmoor.

^Gimingham (1972). Ecology of heathlands. Chapman & Hall, London.

^Norton Anthology of English Literature; Romantic Literature.

^"Moorland". BBC Nature. BBC. October 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2015. Moorlands are upland areas with acidic, low-nutrient and often water-logged soils. In their cold, windy and wet conditions colourful heather plants dominate, growing on the deep peaty layers. These seas of pinks and purples are a haven for many small mammals and insects, but fewer reptiles than on lowland heaths. British moorland may look like wilderness, but it is actually a man-made and highly managed landscape, with regular burning to allow new heather growth. Some 10-15% of the world's moorland is found in the UK, mainly in the north and west of the country.

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